


Neopolitan Dreams

by pinkhimchanism



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternative Universe - Mermaids, Fluff, Happy Ending, Himchan as a fisherman, Jongup as a mermaid, Light Angst, M/M, it's basically just fluff, the others you will see
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 10:43:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13588398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkhimchanism/pseuds/pinkhimchanism
Summary: Himchan just wants to relax at the beach - but then he is being spied upon by a merman who keeps telling him he's stupid. And maybe they're slowly falling for each other.





	Neopolitan Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from - surprise, surprise - a song: this time it's Neopolitan Dreams by Lisa Mitchell. I wrote this fic for a friend last summer and yeah well, I hope you all enjoy.

Himchan was, despite everything that Daehyun and Youngjae might have to say, not easily scared. Still, taking a nice swim in the ocean just to be interrupted by a loud splash out of nowhere in a place where nobody but him should be anyway, well that startled him. Himchan let out a not very manly squeak and backed away a few steps, only to step on a sharp stone. He squeaked again and fell into the shallow water, right on his butt. "Shit," he mumbled and was surprised when he heard a chuckle. So whoever was spying on him was also laughing at him. Great. It kept getting better.

When Himchan finally looked up, he saw a man with dark blue hair and eyes bunched up like small crescent moons as he laughed. About him, apparently. The feature that was most special about the other man though was certainly the way his naked skin transformed into a blue fish tail at his waist. Two sharp fins protruded from each side of his hips. His spine was lined with more fins and on his neck, Himchan could see gills.

Maybe Himchan made a weird sound when he took in all of the other man's body. "What are you? A mermaid?" And sue him if his voice sounded weak. "Do you even speak my language?" He added, as an afterthought.

The other man dipped his head to the side and looked at him, not replying.

"I... Do I need to make, like, whale sounds? Shit, what kind of fisherman am I that I don't know these things? No legend ever said that you don't speak my language. Wait, you're not about to drown me, are you?" Himchan shuffled backwards a little but slowed down at the intense gaze he got from the other man. He should have paid more attention to the stories his parents had told him about mermaids as a child.

And then the other man broke into laughter. He giggled, and his crescent moon eyes were back. "Did you actually think I didn't speak Korean? And I won't drown you, calm down."

"Are you a mermaid?"

"Straight to the point, aren't you? I'm not a mermaid. Not technically. I'm a kelpie. I belong to the species of merfolk though. So that's the same species as mermaids. And the drowning is usually sirens."

Himchan just stared at him.

"Not the smartest one, are you?"

Himchan frowned. "Stop sassing me. I'm not stupid. You're just the first, um, kelpie I've ever met, and I was always told you're, like, evil, but then again, I have never actually... Um, quite believed that. Like, one hundred percent."

The kelpie flapped his tail lazily. "Do you always ramble so much?"

Himchan didn't deem that worthy of an answer. "What even was that loud splash that startled me?" 

"That was me dropping from the rock over there where I was enjoying life until you came along. I wasn't sure what you were up to but then you didn't seem that dangerous." He didn't laugh but there was amusement in his eyes. Himchan was unsure whether he should be offended that Jongup didn’t think of him as a threat or not.

 

 

 

"You're a fisherman!" Jongup lazily swam next to Himchan's fishing boat, on his back, his tail's glitter in the sun filtered through the water.

"And you're chasing the fish away. 

Jongup shook his head. "I'm not. Fish are not afraid of me. Most of the time."

"When are they afraid of you?"

"Don't be dumb, what do you think I eat?"

"Why do you keep calling me dumb?" 

"The fact you need to ask that doesn't help your case in the least."

And with a chuckle he dissappeared in the depths of the ocean, leaving a sputtering Himchan in his wake.

 

 

The kelpie was becoming a fixture in Himchan's life and the way the strange blue-haired man had creeped into his life this easily was maybe slightly disconcerting.

It had been two weeks now and more often than not, when Himchan drove out to do some fishing, there he was, swimming alongside his boat and sharing his thoughts. The kelpie's thoughts were quite different to anything Himchan had ever heard. The kelpie also had this way of looking at Himchan as if he could read his thoughts that sometimes had him shifting uncomfortably.

"You never told me your name, kelpie."

"My name is Jongup. Moon Jongup. And who are you?"

"Kim Himchan."

"Himchan. 'Strong'. I think that's fitting." Jongup's eyes seemed to turn Himchan's innermost thoughts inside out and made them hiss at being exposed like that. Himchan had to look away.

"Is it now?" He mumbled, wishing he had a way of knowing what Jongup was thinking.

 

 

"You're telling me you never told me you can actually walk on land?" 

"That's what I'm saying, yes. It never came up, hyung."

"Fair enough, I think."

"Bring clothes that fit me with you tomorrow morning at ten and we can meet by the rocks where we first met. Show me the village. Introduce me to your friends."

Himchan stared at Jongup, then smiled and nodded.

Jongup beamed and laughed, then splashed them both with water.

 

 

"Turn around when I change. I'll be naked."

Himchan obediently turned his back to Jongup to give him some privacy.

"Clothes, silly."

Himchan sighed and handed him the clothes and when he maybe sneaked a glance at Jongup's naked form, well, he was only human. And hella curious.

Maybe he looked a bit too long but Jongup didn't seem to mind. He smirked at Himchan and turned his back to him so Himchan could only see his muscled back and his butt. "Like what you see, Himchan?"

Himchan blushed and wished the earth would open and swallow him. He hoped that wherever he was going, he could sneak another glance at Jongup's butt.

"I do, yes."

"You better."

 

 

Later, they sat in Daehyun's seafood restaurant by the beach. Well, a street was in between his restaurant and the actual beach, but it was still beautiful.

"Your friend knows how to cook fish."

Daehyun, who had walked to the table right in time to hear that, grinned and ruffled Jongup's hair as he sat down. "Thanks, Jongup. I like you already. Come by whenever you're hungry."

"Daehyunnie, your restaurant will never make any profit if you keep feeding people you like for free," Youngjae from the small store next door said. He sold books and postcards and knick knacks nobody ever needed – unless they were on holidays – to tourists. He had closed the store for a lunch break and had sat down with Himchan and that interesting new friend of his, Jongup.

"We can start with you paying for your lemonade, Jae, how about that?" Youngjae instinctively pulled his lemonade closer to himself and shook his head. "You wouldn't."

"Try me."

 

 

Himchan and Jongup were sitting by the rocks again, Jongup trying his best to keep his legs dry so he wouldn't change back just yet. The sun was slowly sinking into the ocean, colouring it a dark red-orange.

"Thank you, Himchan. The day way beautiful."

"I thought so too. Thanks for coming along."

Jongup just smiled and took Himchan's hand. Then he leaned over to Himchan and kissed his lips gently. It was probably the most innocent kiss Himchan had ever received.

 

 

"You love him, don't you?" Yongguk asked as they sat in their shared living room. Himchan and him had been flat mates since forever. Occasional friends with benefits but they didn't like each other like that. They had tried that after school and it had been so weird that they had just stopped after a while. Now they just were best friends again and content with that. Best friends with benefits.

"I... I wouldn't say love yet. But I care for him."

"He's a merman, isn't he?"

Himchan looked up. "How...?"

"Youngjae told me Daehyun told him Jongup had gills on his neck." Daehyun was more perceptive than Himchan gave him credit for sometimes.

"He's a kelpie, actually. That's what he says. I don't know what exactly the difference is, though. I'd have to ask him."

"He makes you smile. I like that."

 

Himchan was worried to say the least. He had been out, fishing, to sell what he caught to Daehyun early next morning. He had not seen Jongup all day. Ever since their first kiss, he had always come to the boat, sometimes had spent the evening going out with Himchan in the small city and maybe he had ended up staying at Himchan's over night sometimes. But today, Himchan had not seen him at all. Which was weird. Jongup usually insisted on stealing kisses all day long whenever he could and sometimes heaved himself on board if Himchan wasn't quick enough about it. Then Jongup would demand kisses from Himchan and kiss the living daylights out of him as soon as the other man was close enough. If Himchan took too long, Jongup would wait until he was dry and had changed, then he would stroll up to Himchan stark naked and get the kisses he wanted. Then he’d jump back into the water with a smirk.

But he was not here today and now the sun had already started setting.

And then Himchan heard it. There was a sound he had never ever heard before and it sounded full of pain and pierced right through his heart. It was sad and helpless and Himchan dropped the net he had been holding and ran after the source of the sound. He had a sneaking suspicion that this was about Jongup. He couldn’t have pin-pointed why he thought that, it was just a thought that was in his head the moment he heard this sound. He had to help.

And Himchan was right. Another one of those heartbreaking wails and he saw a mop of blue hair and the familiar blue tail on the beach. But there was also a disturbing amount of red bleeding into the sea and Jongup seemed to struggle to pull himself more onto the shore. 

"Jongup!" The man in question turned his head and Himchan could see the relief that flooded his face when he saw Himchan hurrying over to him.

"Jonguppie, what happened?" He could see a deep gash along the side of Jongup's tail. Himchan tried not to get hysterical. He could fix this.

"There's always... People hunting my kind. Wasn't quick enough and they caught my tail and... Shit, I barely got away. I needed to go to the shore as quickly as possible to get this treated. It won't stop bleeding, Himchan." Jongup looked so terribly scared and Himchan nodded. "I'll bring you back home. Yongguk's a nurse when he's not writing lyrics, you know. He works in the kids' station. Watch it, I'm going to pick you up now."

Himchan took off his shirt and wrapped it around Jongup's tail carefully, trying to get him dry and to stop the bleeding, before he lifted him up. Jongup's arms wrapped around Himchan's neck immediately and a moment after he had been picked up, he changed into his human form. The gash on his thigh was almost as long as Himchan’s hand and looked even worse when Jongup was in his human form. It was long and deep and made panic rise in Himchan, dark and foggy and making it hard to breathe. He quickly pulled his shirt back over the gash and started making his way towards his flat as quickly as possible.

 

 

"Jongup?"

"Hmmm?"

"What was this wail earlier? That was you, wasn't it?"

"It's... Like, a distress signal. It usually draws people in. Kind of where the legends about sirens come from."

"It was so sad. I thought my heart was breaking."

Jongup was silent for a moment after that. He looked at Himchan in that funny way that made him feel as if he was standing in front of Jongup naked, with nowhere to hide. "Thank you. For saving me,” Jongup finally said.

"Thank Yongguk. He stitched up your leg."

There was a small silence between them.

"Jongup?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"And I love you."

"It shouldn't have taken you getting hurt that badly to make me say it."

Jongup chuckled. "I knew it anyway."

"You constantly know too much. Just by looking at people."

"Daehyun and Youngjae are sleeping with each other."

"Exactly what I meant. I didn't need to know that."

"Maybe my friend Junhong would get along with Yongguk. Then everyone would have someone. He's a kelpie too."

"Very economic thinking on your part there."

"I know. I'll bring him here once I can go into the water again safely."

"Yeah, sure, fill the flat with kelpies, why don't you?"

Jongup just laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm honestly sorry Junhong isn't in this lot, I swear I love him a lot, the little fluffy boi.
> 
> Come scream at me on [ tumblr ](https://pinkhimchanism.tumblr.com/) or [ twitter ](https://twitter.com/pinkhimchanism/)


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